MANHATTAN, KANSAS (TUE & WED, AUGUST 11 & 12, 2009)

TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2009
Hello from Erik’s place…
For some unfathomable reason I had one of my sleepless nights…
The cause: Well, who knows? Could’ve been Lu’s fairly quiet snore, but more likely the wailing sirens of cop cars, fire engines, and ambulances scurrying by on the highway (only a short distance away)… It was around 3 am, so I’m thinking it must’ve been an accident, but who knows?
What I do know is that those sirens set of a cockamamie ruckus among the resident coyotes, which set off the neighborhood dogs… You should’ve heard the howling… It was quite a chorus, and funny in its own way, if you didn‘t want to sleep!
Anyway, I made up for it all by staying in bed until 8:00...
Then Luanne and I got busy trying to figure out what to do, and where to go next…
Here’s our plan (which is subject to change if reservations don’t fan out):
We’re leaving here come Thursday, and driving down to Grove, Oklahoma, for a 2-night stay.
Leave there on Aug. 16, and drive through the Northwest corner of Arkansas into Branson, Missouri, where we’ll stay until the 19th.
Arrive in Mullberry Grove, Illinois, that day, and stay there until the 21st, when we’ll drive in to Whitestown, Indiana, where Stein and Tina live…
We figure to leave Stein and Tina’s on August 27, and drive to Senecaville, Ohio, for a one-night stand…
On August 28, we’re hoping we’ll be in New Holland, Pennsylvania, where we’re planning to take in some of that Amish culture, before leaving on September 1.…
Between Sep. 1st and 8th, we’re in a quandary, because we were told we had reservations at one place in Bar Harbor, Maine, but they called us today and said that was not going to happen, so we’ll see how we can figure out that dilemma in the near future…
Anyway, we do have reservations in Bar Harbor from September 8 through the 20th, and then at Wiscasset; Cushing/Thomaston; Saco; and Old Orchard Beach, all in Maine until October 12.…. I know, that’s a long time in Maine, but that’s why we’re here… To see the Fall colors…
We haven’t had a chance to plan anything for after October 12th, but we have plenty of time to do that, and, of course, we’ll have to see how the weather gods treat us…. That’s going to be a big factor in deciding when we start heading South to warmer climates… Like Florida…
While sweating out the details in this morning’s planning session, we had two very nice conversations (using Skype) with cousin Grethe, in Norway, and Lu’s sister, Linda (aka Gede)…
Everything seems to be going OK in Norway… Have to mention that my favorite aunt, Alfhild, turned 94 on Sunday…. My mom was 95 when she passed on, so it’s nice to know cuz and I stem from hardy stock!
Then there’s Gede and her hubby, Terry… We’ve been trying to figure out for months now how to meet up on the East Coast…. They’re landing in North Carolina (if I remember right) on Sep. 16, and taking off from Boston on the 30th…. We’ve never been to the Northeast Coast, and have no idea where “things” are, and how far things are apart, so we’re at a loss when it comes to nailing a destination down…. Looks like the best solution at this time is to take a drive down from wherever we are in Maine to Boston, but have no idea how long that would take…. We’re open for suggestions….
Our “problem” (if you can call it that) is that we have to make reservations well in advanced of arrival at most of these places we want to see, and we’re not used to that…. We used to just get up and go, and hope for a place to settle in for the night when we got there, but due to the popularity of the places in question, we’re forced to play it safe…. So…. Sorry, guys…. Hopefully, things will work out so we can catch each other, but if not, then lets meet this Winter someplace warm???
Finally, when Erik came home from work this afternoon, we took a cruise down to the University District, where we parked and walked the area named “Aggiville.” Interesting place… All kinds of bars, taverns, and eateries, all geared for the students, of course… We stopped at a couple of “dives” and found both good food and good drink…. Don’t think I’d like to be there during a football game, or on a Friday night though…. Probably very rowdy?
That’s it for tonight…. Have a good one, and keep in touch.
Picture Link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kjell.and.Luanne/MANHATTANKANSASTUESDAYAUGUST112009#

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2009
Since we didn't do all that much today, I'm adding a few words here about today's happenings.
Erik took off real early for work, and Lu and I had an easy morning... Took a trip into town to fill up the gas tank ($2.59/gal for diesel), and then got myself a hair cut... We went from there to Walmart to do some last minute shopping, and then home... As I said, not much going on from a sightseeing standpoint... We did make some more reservations, or rather we verified some that we'd already made...
The temp was climbing all morning long, and by the time we got home from shopping, it was time to put the air conditioning on, which makes this place a little more bearable...
Erik came home fairly early, and told us that his very good friends, Terry and Carrol Walker, wanted to take us out for dinner... They are the couple who's kitchen Erik's remodeling (look at my previous Blog for pictures). Anyway, we met up at a Mexican Restaurant (sorry, can't remember the name), not far from where Erik lives, and it was finally great to put faces to the names we've heard about for so long...
Had a wonderful dinner, and found Terry and Carrol easy to chat with, and delightfully entertaining.... Of course, Carrol is of Scandinavian ancestry, so what can you expect?
That's it.... We went home, where I'm now trying to finish this off, so I can figure out where we're going tomorrow... I added some pictures to yesterday's Picasa album, socheck them out..
We're off and running to Oklahoma in the morning, so take care, and wish us luck...
Night all.....